page 178: Beryl's time of her life

[orion1836]

Friendly reminder... while we may like her, Alex most definitely does not.

You know, for reasons.

[sunphoenix]

Friendly reminder... while we may like her, Alex most definitely does not.

You know, for reasons.

Uhm... I'm not sure where to start with this.

All I can rely on is my years of experience as a human male and say that when I have DECIDEDLY disliked someone the last thing I do is regard them in my presence. I ignore them, people who I'm concerned will try to harm me or inflict harm on me the last thing I ever would do would be to 'tease them' in social banter. I am socially distant, cold and curt with people I dislike... regardless of gender. If I Hate someone, being I'm a mature adult I usually just avoid being near them or regarding them if I must be in their presence.

These are not the consistant reactions observed from Alex.

From what I have noticed about female humans when they dislike someone they usually behave socially aggressive typically getting their peers to gang up on them...to some extent male humans do that to... but I was raised better than to bully people I dislike {I also try to find the good in everyone so its rare that I actually 'dislike' anyone}, generally I just avoid people I dislike.

But this is not the reaction Alex has demonstrated in his expression and behavior, but only time will tell.

[orion1836]

Uhm... I'm not sure where to start with this.

All I can rely on is my years of experience as a human male and say that when I have DECIDEDLY disliked someone the last thing I do is regard them in my presence. I ignore them, people who I'm concerned will try to harm me or inflict harm on me the last thing I ever would do would be to 'tease them' in social banter. I am socially distant, cold and curt with people I dislike... regardless of gender. If I Hate someone, being I'm a mature adult I usually just avoid being near them or regarding them if I must be in their presence.

These are not the consistent reactions observed from Alex.

From what I have noticed about female humans when they dislike someone they usually behave socially aggressive typically getting their peers to gang up on them...to some extent male humans do that to... but I was raised better than to bully people I dislike {I also try to find the good in everyone so its rare that I actually 'dislike' anyone}, generally I just avoid people I dislike.

But this is not the reaction Alex has demonstrated in his expression and behavior, but only time will tell.

I respectfully disagree.

The biggest indicator in my mind is that Alex refers to Fireblade as a harpy in his own internal voice. There is no reason for him to filter his opinion internally so what you see is what you get. At the very least, Alex dislikes her. If his internal voice is meant to be his narration to an unseen audience years later, then the characterization is even more damning because he still thinks of her as a harpy. Furthermore, he is visibly disappointed in the news that she will be accompanying him on the shuttle flight.

Within a day of his arrival, this one Loroi forcefully mind-probed him in what he described was a painful experience and telekinetically shoved him to the floor for seemingly no reason. Given this, I view small antagonisms like needling her about not speaking or this latest attempt to draw her out in the same way I would a little brother who is trying to get back at an older brother without invoking parental wrath or getting his ass kicked.

Now, I honestly can't judge how Fireblade feels about Alex. If pressed, it's probably something like cold indifference or annoyance.

[boldilocks]

The biggest indicator in my mind is that Alex refers to Fireblade as a harpy in his own internal voice. There is no reason for him to filter his opinion internally so what you see is what you get. At the very least, Alex dislikes her. If his internal voice is meant to be his narration to an unseen audience years later, then the characterization is even more damning because he still thinks of her as a harpy. Furthermore, he is visibly disappointed in the news that she will be accompanying him on the shuttle flight.

It's also possible that he's doing the characterization as a demonstration that he did distrust her at first but look at them now, happily married and telling his kids about how he met their mother.(Or as a warning to the human fanatics he's instructing in how to insurrect against the loroi tyrants, with his band of loroi traitors led by fireblade). Ie, "Distrust the pleasant science elves, only harpies will do right by you."

[icekatze]

hi hi

I think it's pretty clear that Fireblade makes Alex uncomfortable, in times when he's looking at her but not directly interacting with her, his expressions are generally unhappy or guarded.

But I feel like the way he is prodding Fireblade is less about him getting even, and more about him trying to disarm the tension by inviting casual remarks, even if they're at his expense. For his sake, if nothing else, having Fireblade respond in kind would probably make him feel more comfortable.

[Jagged]

I'm with sunphoenix on this one.

While all her interactions with him have resulted in anger or annoyance for Alex, I feel his interactions with her stem from some form of interest.

[dragoongfa]

She is a tall, green eyed, red head. Of course a human male would be interested and that despite the widespread knowledge that red heads are cray cray:P

[RockB]

Friendly reminder... while we may like her, Alex most definitely does not.

You know, for reasons.

Which reminds me of the most burning (pun not intended) question I have since then: How much did they get out of him?? They managed to telepathically clamp his eyes shut and even stop his breathing, so they definitely got some connection to his mind. But they still consider him as an asset of at least diplomatic value, not sure how to interpret that, I think they didn't get everything from him, otherwise it might make more sense to kill him off and seek another opportunity to make contact to humanity. Because Alex coming back and reporting about the telepathic interrogation would probably make a dent into diplomatic matters... Maybe that's another reason for Alex to tease Fireblade, to get some idea about where her limits are.

All I can rely on is my years of experience as a human male and say that when I have DECIDEDLY disliked someone the last thing I do is regard them in my presence. I ignore them, people who I'm concerned will try to harm me or inflict harm on me the last thing I ever would do would be to 'tease them' in social banter. I am socially distant, cold and curt with people I dislike... regardless of gender. If I Hate someone, being I'm a mature adult I usually just avoid being near them or regarding them if I must be in their presence.
...

I for one tend to be like that, too, keep a distance from people I dislike and ignore them as best as possible - but: I know several people who tease the hell out of people they don't like, much in a way Alex does here, trying to provoke them to do things they know the other is uncomfortable with, throwing potentially teasing names and being generally less respectful, but not to the level that would be seen as a clear challenge. My take is that Alex still dislikes Fireblade very much but feels safe enough to tease her, with the others around and the mission to bring him to safety.

I respectfully disagree.

I agree with your disagreement.

The biggest indicator in my mind is that Alex refers to Fireblade as a harpy in his own internal voice. There is no reason for him to filter his opinion internally so what you see is what you get. At the very least, Alex dislikes her. If his internal voice is meant to be his narration to an unseen audience years later, then the characterization is even more damning because he still thinks of her as a harpy. Furthermore, he is visibly disappointed in the news that she will be accompanying him on the shuttle flight.

That, very much.

Within a day of his arrival, this one Loroi forcefully mind-probed him in what he described was a painful experience and telekinetically shoved him to the floor for seemingly no reason.

Or at least, taking the opportunity to show that they can do that, while there would have been other options, like telekinetically catching Alex' stumble. It was a demonstration of power and unfriendliness, IMHO. On top of the mind-probing interrogation. The message Fireblade sent back then was clearly "I am not your friend".
Edit: Not being Alex friend didn't extend to Beryl by everything she said and did, so especially these two created a "bad Loroi, good Loroi" situation for Alex. If they did that on purpose, it would indicate that the telepathic interrogation didn't lead very far, or anywhere. But Beryl is the same as before (if adjusted a bit for the situation) while Fireblade is less hostile, exactly as needed for the current mission, therefore I don't think that Fireblade's and Beryl's behavior was a show.

Now, I honestly can't judge how Fireblade feels about Alex. If pressed, it's probably something like cold indifference or annoyance.

Well, I have an idea about how she initially felt about Alex. The cold indifference would fit to her military position but I think it's more (and a little worse) than that. But the duty to be responsible for "Alex's safety" keeps her in check.

...
But I feel like the way he is prodding Fireblade is less about him getting even, and more about him trying to disarm the tension by inviting casual remarks, even if they're at his expense. For his sake, if nothing else, having Fireblade respond in kind would probably make him feel more comfortable.

I don't think so - he now knows that the Unsheathed traditionally don't speak if they can help it and Fireblade is (probably????) not able to answer telepathically, so that gives her a little dilemma. On top of making her uncomfortable be the means of the question alone, if he wanted to be friendly or at least polite, he would have called her "Fireblade" instead of "Red".

It's also possible that he's doing the characterization as a demonstration that he did distrust her at first but look at them now, happily married and telling his kids about how he met their mother.(Or as a warning to the human fanatics he's instructing in how to insurrect against the loroi tyrants, with his band of loroi traitors led by fireblade). Ie, "Distrust the pleasant science elves, only harpies will do right by you."

Gosh XD How did you arrive at that idea?
Just: Beryl is the most open and curious Loroi towards Alex, considering the whole story up to now, while Fireblade acted... coldly at best, and even given that all of them are now in the same boat (almost literally) I can't see that Fireblade has given any indication of friendliness towards Alex. (Please explain if you saw something else.) Assuming that there is nothing I missed, trusting Fireblade more than Beryl would be outright backwards, unless you think that Alex should and is distrusting his own perceptions.

[raistlin34]

I think Alex motives are simpler. He is in a very bad situation, forced to depend entirely on his alien rescuers/captors, so he logically wants to establish positive relationships with them while gathering as much intel as posible.
Up to this point, Jardin has a general impression of the rest of the group, but the redhead keeps her thoughts to herself and her fellow Loroi. It makes sense for him to at least try to connect or ar least figure out the stern silent unsheated who can potentially turn him into a smear on the wall given the excuse.

[icekatze]

hi hi

I don't think so - he now knows that the Unsheathed traditionally don't speak if they can help it and Fireblade is (probably????) not able to answer telepathically, so that gives her a little dilemma. On top of making her uncomfortable be the means of the question alone, if he wanted to be friendly or at least polite, he would have called her "Fireblade" instead of "Red".

It's not about being polite though. It's about being casual. It is my impression that he's trying to get Fireblade to act more casually around him, because he seems to be more comfortable in a casual setting.

Sure, he knows Fireblade can't talk, but he can still as questions. He's certainly not trying to sabotage diplomatic relations.

[bunnyboy]

Friendly reminder... while we may like her, Alex most definitely does not.

You know, for reasons.

Uhm... I'm not sure where to start with this.

All I can rely on is my years of experience as a human male and say that when I have DECIDEDLY disliked someone the last thing I do is regard them in my presence. I ignore them, people who I'm concerned will try to harm me or inflict harm on me the last thing I ever would do would be to 'tease them' in social banter. I am socially distant, cold and curt with people I dislike... regardless of gender. If I Hate someone, being I'm a mature adult I usually just avoid being near them or regarding them if I must be in their presence.

These are not the consistant reactions observed from Alex.

From what I have noticed about female humans when they dislike someone they usually behave socially aggressive typically getting their peers to gang up on them...to some extent male humans do that to... but I was raised better than to bully people I dislike {I also try to find the good in everyone so its rare that I actually 'dislike' anyone}, generally I just avoid people I dislike.

But this is not the reaction Alex has demonstrated in his expression and behavior, but only time will tell.

I think Alex is bit too rebellious to ignore people he hates and is more likely to play with fire just pay back whatever insult or harm he had received. He might even enjoy of his little games of revenge so much that he wouldn't stop them just because someone asks nicely. Maybe this is the real face of Alex

[DCR]

No, not Alex - the one embarrassing admirals in war games and somehow sent to damage control instead of being in the cockpit of the Bellarmine with the leadership might overstep his bounds from time to time? Say it isn't so!